Jeremy Irvine plays the boyfriend of a teenage cancer sufferer in Now Is Good (Picture: Getty Images)

The star of War Horse and Now Is Good (and rumoured boyfriend of Ellie Goulding) talks to Metro about finding humour in adversity – and performing as a tree.

Your character in your latest film, Now Is Good, falls in love with a terminally ill girl. How did you prepare for such a role?

I didn’t treat it any differently – it’s still about finding a character and playing the situation for real – as much as you can. But this lovely girl called Alice Pyne (who succumbed to cancer last week), came on set with her parents. We were expecting to meet three people who were catatonically depressed but it was the opposite. They were making the best out of every single moment – they were so full of life.

Given the subject matter, how did you stop the film becoming utterly depressing?

It’s 80 per cent humour and 20 per cent intense scenes. All the humour comes from the fact this girl’s got the world’s best excuse, so she goes out and does all the things she never would normally be able to do. When Paddy (Considine) wants to be funny, he’s very funny. He and Kaya (Scodelario) are both great comic actors when the time’s right.

What’s it like when you’re on a set with actors such as Paddy Considine or Olivia Williams?

I always feel like I’ve fooled someone and any moment they’re going to tap me on the shoulder and say: ‘We figured you out. You’re not an actor.’ So I get overwhelmed. But they are professional and make you feel like you’re on a level with them.

How has your life changed in the past year?

Very simple: I can now get work. I’ve spent two years walking around getting rejected, so to now be able to say I’m an actor without blushing is amazing. I remember for one of my first jobs working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, I had no lines: I was just a tree. But I remember thinking: ‘If I never get another acting job, I’ve done what I set out to achieve: I’m on stage as an actor.’ So all this is like the whipped cream and cherries on top.

If you were to meet your younger self, what would you advise him?

There were many moments when I thought: ‘This is not working out.’ If you’ve had 50 auditions and had a ‘no’ from all of them, the temptation is to go: ‘Oh, screw it.’ But I wanted to force myself to stick at it. So I’d probably tell myself hang in there.